Published: Sunday, 15th February, 2009 8:00am

Burglars feel force in crackdown

by Judith Green

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A countywide crackdown on burglary hotspots has resulted in 25 arrests.

Many of the 25 arrests made during the operation were on suspicion of burglary offences and they are all now subject to ongoing investigations. One man was arrested in Bracknell on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle and is currently on bail pending further enquiries.

Head of the Bracknell Priority Crime Team, Det Insp Mike Petford said: "I am pleased to say that there was not a single burglary in Bracknell Forest during the operation, and only one incident of auto crime.

"Our PCSOs did a tremendous job of spreading crime reduction messages and the high visibility police presence helped to provide reassurance to the public."

Police in Bracknell Forest worked closely with colleagues in Reading and Wokingham during Operation Overpass, which aimed to slash the number of burglaries across the three areas.

PCSOs and officers worked together during the initiative, which ran from January 28 to January 30 and coincided with similar operations in Hampshire and Surrey. Members of the Bracknell Priority Crime Team and neighbourhood policing teams were joined by dog handlers, road policing officers and the mounted section in visits to hotspots.

During the day, officers took part in high visibility patrols and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) operations while at night they patrolled hotspots in marked and unmarked cars.

Around 85 stop and searches were carried out as well as more than 1,000 detailed checks on people and vehicles across the county.

PCSOs also provided crime reduction advice and delivered leaflets to 2,778 homes in the Bracknell Forest area.

Det Insp Petford added: "We will continue to work on all fronts to reduce the number of burglaries in Bracknell Forest and we plan to run more operations of this kind in future."